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WORDS: 11.375
WARNINGS: SMUT
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Monday should have felt normal again.
Routine usually helped with that.
Wake up. Coffee. Work. Customers. Small conversations repeated so many times they stopped meaning anything.
Usually routine quieted your brain. Today it only made everything worse. Because every moment of silence immediately filled with him.
You were staring at a customer while handing them change when suddenly all you could think about was the feeling of sunscreen against warm skin and the sight of Ji-yong sitting shirtless in front of you beneath the sun, tattoos exposed carelessly while ocean wind moved through his damp hair.
You blinked. Your coworker looked mildly concerned.
You handed the wrong documents.
Your coworker slowly corrected you while you apologized under your breath, heat crawling embarrassingly into your face.
The moment they walked away, you groaned softly and dropped your forehead against your table for a second.
Because it wasnât even the kissing. Or the hand holding. Or him smiling at you like you had personally invented happiness.
Your brain had decided to become obsessed with his tattoos. Specifically the angel wings at the back of his neck. Which felt unfair, you barely even seen that one.
You could still remember the feeling of kissing the tattoo at the beach in your imagination despite never actually doing it. The thought had followed you home afterward like something alive, settling annoyingly somewhere deep inside your chest.
Then there was the sunscreen scene.
Ji-yong sitting between your legs while you spread sunscreen across his back slowly, your fingers brushing inked skin while he relaxed beneath your touch with so much trust it nearly scared you.
One day youâll have to let me prepare one for you.
God. Thenâworseâhis hands on your hips in the water. Warm. Steady. Careful.
Your stomach flipped embarrassingly hard at the memory.
Jiwoon stood beside the coffee machine watching you suspiciously while sipping iced coffee through a straw.
âIâm thinking,â you muttered.
âThatâs usually dangerous.â
Jiwoon narrowed her eyes further.
âIâm literally at work.â
âThat is not what I meant and you know it.â
You sighed dramatically while reorganizing cups that were already perfectly organized.
The worst part about being friends with someone since childhood was that they learned how silence worked on you.
ââŠDo you have Ji-yongâs Instagram?â
Jiwoon froze mid-sip. Then very slowly lowered the cup. ââŠOh my god.â
Immediately regret flooded your body. âForget I asked.â
âNo no no.â Jiwoon grabbed your wrist dramatically. âNo. We are staying here.â
âYou finally want to stalk him.â
âI do not want to stalk him.â
You covered your face with your hands instantly.
âYou asked for his Instagram voluntarily.â
âThat means nothing.â
âIt means everything.â
You groaned harder while Jiwoon started digging through her phone with the excitement of someone uncovering state secrets.
âYou know,â she continued casually, âlast month you told me celebrity men were emotionally manufactured.â
âAnd now look at you.â
âHeâs barely a celebrity in my brain anymore.â
The words slipped out accidentally. Jiwoon paused. Looked up slowly. And suddenly her teasing expression softened into something much more dangerous.
âOh,â she said quietly.
Your stomach dropped. Because now she knew too. You looked away first.
Jiwoon thankfully didnât comment on it. Instead she simply held her phone out toward you.
The profile picture was annoyingly artistic and blurry. Of course it was.
âYou follow him,â Jiwoon noted immediately.
âBecause otherwise heâll know I searched for him.â
âYou ARE stalking him.â
Jiwoon laughed while walking away toward another customer, leaving you alone with your phone and suddenly far too much curiosity.
You opened the account. And immediately understood absolutely nothing about the man.
The first picture was abstract art. The second was his cat.
Then a blurry selfie at three in the morning where half his face was hidden beneath a hoodie captioned only with a moon emoji.
Then another cat picture. Then shoes. Then studio equipment. Then a close-up shot of his own tattoo.
Your thumb stopped moving.
The picture had clearly been taken in a mirror, dark wings stretching beautifully across the back of his neck while silver jewelry caught the camera flash faintly against pale skin.
Your mouth went dry instantly.
You zoomed in before realizing what you were doing and immediately locked your phone in shame.
Then unlocked it again thirty seconds later.
Studio snippets. Song lyrics written messily across notebooks. Half-finished paintings. Random videos of Zoa screaming at him. Midnight city pictures. Coffee cups. Selfies where he looked exhausted but smiling anyway.
And slowlyâstrangelyâthe image of G-Dragon started dissolving even more. Until all that remained was Ji-yong.
Messy. Artistic. Lonely sometimes. Funny in stupid quiet ways. Soft beneath all the noise.
Your chest tightened softly.
Because somewhere between the beach and the pictures and the way he had asked can I hold your hand while I driveâsomething had happened to you. Something dangerous.
You stared at another blurry selfie for a long moment before finally sighing and locking your phone again.
You genuinely liked this man.
-----------------------------------------
By the time seven finally arrived, you had already considered turning the car around at least four separate times.
Not because you didnât want to see him.
That was precisely the problem.
The studio building stood quieter than you expected, hidden between taller structures and glowing softly beneath dim streetlights, nothing flashy about it despite belonging to one of the most recognizable men in the country. No giant signs. No fans waiting outside. No dramatic luxury.
Just a door. A stupidly normal door.
Your fingers tightened briefly around your keys before you finally stepped out of the car.
The elevator ride up felt strangely intimate somehow, your reflection staring back at you from metallic walls while your heartbeat refused to calm down.
When the doors finally opened, soft music immediately drifted into the hallway.
Not polished music. Unfinished music. Fragments.
A beat repeating somewhere. Someone humming absently. The sound of papers moving.
You followed the noise until you found the slightly open studio door.
And paused. Because somehowâit looked exactly like him. Ji-yong.
The room glowed under warm low lights instead of harsh white ones, shadows stretching lazily across expensive equipment and absolute chaos alike. Hoodies were abandoned over chairs. Coffee cups sat everywhere, some empty, some forgotten half-full. Open notebooks covered in messy handwriting littered tables alongside tangled headphones and scattered lyric sheets.
Candles burned themselves slowly to death near the back wall, wax dripping carelessly onto trays clearly never cleaned properly.
There were tiny pieces of him in every corner.
Creative chaos. Beautiful chaos. Human chaos.
You were still quietly taking everything in when another voice suddenly spoke.
âWell. This is terrifying.â
You blinked. Then turned.
Seunghyun sat sprawled across a couch in the corner holding an iced americano while watching you with immediate amusement.
âOh,â you breathed. âHi.â
You laughed awkwardly. âI didnât know you were here.â
Seunghyun opened his mouth.
Ji-yong appeared almost instantly from behind one of the recording booths wearing loose black sweatpants, a hoodie, and glasses pushed messily into his hair. His eyes landed on you first.
And Seunghyun saw it happen in real time. The poor man looked personally betrayed.
âOh,â he repeated slowly.
Because there it was. Not subtle anymore. Ji-yongâs entire face changed when he looked at you. Like his body relaxed before his brain even caught up.
Absolutely emotionally gone.
Seunghyun leaned back dramatically against the couch cushions.
Ji-yong pointed toward the door without even looking at him. âLeave.â
âThis is my studio too.â
âYouâre unbelievable.â
âYouâre still here.â
Seunghyun looked at you then, eyes narrowed knowingly. And unfortunatelyâway too perceptive.
âYou look comfortable,â he observed casually.
Your stomach flipped immediately.
Ji-yong made a strangled sound. âOkay goodbye.â
âYouâre smiling too,â Seunghyun continued mercilessly.
Then Seunghyun stood slowly, grabbing his drink while muttering something about emotional disasters beneath his breath.
As he passed you, he leaned slightly closer.
âGood luck,â he whispered dramatically.
The studio door closed behind him. Silence settled almost instantly afterward. A softer silence this time.
You turned back toward Ji-yong. He looked⊠nervous. Actually nervous.
Which felt strangely unfair considering the man had performed in stadiums before.
âYou came,â he said softly.
Silence again. Then his eyes widened suddenly. âOh my god waitâ thereâs stuff everywhere.â
You looked around deliberately. âThere is.â
âI didnât know if I was supposed to clean or pretend Iâm naturally mysterious and artistic.â
He gasped in mock offense. âYouâre mean to me already and youâve only been here thirty seconds.â
You laughed quietly. And there it was again. That soft shift. The one that always happened eventually with him. The awkwardness dissolving little by little until breathing around each other stopped feeling difficult.
Ji-yong rubbed the back of his neck suddenly, glancing toward the equipment behind him.
âI need to finish something really quickly,â he admitted apologetically. âLike actually quickly. Iâm sorry.â
âYou keep apologizing.â
âYou invited me to your workplace.â
âYou working here would make sense, Ji-yong.â
He stared at you for a second. Then smiled. Small. Soft. Dangerously fond.
âOkay,â he murmured quietly. âOkay.â
He guided you further inside afterward, moving lyric sheets off the couch so you could sit, muttering embarrassed explanations about creative process and artistic genius while you rolled your eyes.
You didnât care about waiting. Not even a little. Because watching him exist hereâcomfortable, focused, realâfelt strangely intimate already.
Ji-yong settled back in front of the mixing desk a few moments later, headphones sliding over messy hair while music filled the studio softly again.
Then he looked over his shoulder toward you one more time.
âFive minutes,â he promised.
âYou said that three minutes ago.â
ââŠOkay maybe fifteen.â
And Ji-yong smiled to himself before turning back toward the music again, completely unaware that your chest had already started feeling dangerously warm just from watching him there.
The studio slowly settled into a rhythm after that. Not silence exactly. Ji-yong was incapable of true silence. There was always something with him.
Music humming softly through speakers. Fingers tapping against the desk. Pens rolling absentmindedly. Half-muttered thoughts spoken aloud without realizing.
Creative noise.
You sat curled against the couch while watching him work beneath the warm dim lights of the studio, and somewhere along the way, without noticing exactly when it happened, the atmosphere stopped feeling awkward entirely.
Ji-yong kept turning around every few minutes nonetheless.
âSorry,â he said for maybe the fourth time while adjusting something on the screen. âThis part is annoying me.â
âI know but you came here and now Iâm ignoring you.â
âYouâre literally talking every thirty seconds.â
He turned back around. Thirty seconds laterââFive more minutes.â
You huffed a laugh immediately.
âYou already used that one.â
The corners of your mouth lifted again. It happened constantly around him now. Smiling. Effortless enough that you usually didnât even realize you were doing it anymore.
Ji-yong, meanwhile, looked completely different here than anywhere else you had seen him before.
At the beach he had been playful. At dinner dramatic. In the supermarket tired. In the car soft.
Focused in a way that almost transformed him.
One second he would be slouched lazily in the chair, hoodie hanging off one shoulder while complaining dramatically about life, and the next he would lean forward slightly toward the screen, eyes narrowing with complete concentration while adjusting tiny details you could barely even hear.
You watched him stop a track halfway through with a frustrated groan.
He replayed the same three seconds. Again. And again. And again.
Then suddenly sat up straighter.
His fingers moved quickly afterward, changing something small before replaying it one more time.
This time his entire face lit up. âThere.â
You blinked. ââŠWhat changed?â
Ji-yong looked scandalized. âThe bass.â
âIt sounded exactly the same.â
âYouâre hurting me.â
You laughed quietly while he spun around in his chair dramatically.
âNo because listenâ before it sounded flat emotionally.â
âThat sentence means nothing.â
âIt means everything.â
Then, because apparently he needed validation to survive, he replayed the section again while staring directly at you.
You listened carefully this time.
Ji-yong froze. âYou heard it?â
His jaw dropped. âYou heard it.â
He pointed at you triumphantly like you had just proven an important scientific theory. âI knew you were smart.â
âThat was your conclusion?â
You shook your head while laughing under your breath, and Ji-yong stared for a second too long afterward. Softly. Fondly.
Then suddenly remembered himself and turned back around quickly. âAnyway,â he muttered. âFive more minutes.â
The studio filled with music again afterward.
You should have probably checked your phone. Gotten bored. Felt awkward sitting there while he worked.
Instead you found yourself watching him again.
The way he bit softly against his thumb while thinking. The little frustrated noises he made under his breath when something didnât sound right immediately. And every now and thenâwithout failâhe looked back at you.
Like checking you were still there. The realization hit you slowly. He wasnât used to this either. Someone simply existing beside him quietly without asking for anything.
No performance.
No expectation.
Something in your chest softened painfully at the thought.
Ji-yong replayed another section before finally leaning back in his chair with a deep sigh.
ââŠOkay maybe I hate this song now.â
âYou say that about every song.â
His head snapped toward you.
âYouâve said it three times tonight.â
You blinked slowly back at him.
And suddenly the room felt quieter.
Ji-yong turned fully in his chair then, one arm hanging loosely over the backrest while looking at you in complete silence for a moment too long.
âWhat?â you asked eventually.
His expression shifted immediately like heâd been caught doing something embarrassing.
âThatâs suspicious.â
He rubbed awkwardly at the back of his neck.
âItâs justâŠâ His eyes flickered toward you again. âYou really donât mind being here?â
The question sounded so genuinely uncertain it caught you off guard.
You looked around the studio slowly.
At the messy notebooks. The dim lights. The music equipment. The coffee cups. Him.
âNo,â you answered honestly. âI like it here.â
Ji-yong went completely still. You could physically see the sentence hitting him. Hard. Because what you meantâwhat both of you understood you meantâwas: I like seeing this part of you.
His throat moved as he swallowed. Then quietly: âOh.â
You brushed the moment away before it could become too heavy, leaning forward just enough to pat the middle of his back lightly.
âCome on,â you murmured. âFinish that song already, yeah?â
Ji-yong looked over his shoulder immediately, smiling softly.
âOkay,â he said easily. Then, after a tiny pause: âBut get closer. Youâre too far away.â
You narrowed your eyes at him automatically. âIâm literally in the same room.â
âEmotionally and physically far away.â
âYouâre ridiculous.â
âAnd yet you came here willingly.â
You sighed dramatically before finally pushing yourself off the couch.
Ji-yong watched the entire process with far too much interest for someone supposedly working. You ignored him while dragging one of the rolling chairs across the studio floor until it settled beside him.
âNo,â he said immediately.
He laughed quietly, the sound low and warm in the dim studio.
âBehind me,â he clarified. âCome sit here.â
Still muttering under your breath, you eventually moved the chair behind his instead, close enough now that your knees almost brushed the back of his seat when you sat down.
Satisfied, Ji-yong smiled to himself and turned back toward the screen again.
And honestlyâthat should have been fine. Normal. Except from hereâfrom this closeâyou could see it properly. The angel tattoo.
Not glimpses of it beneath sunlight like at the beach.
Not blurry pictures through Instagram.
Here you could actually see it.
Dark wings stretching elegantly across the back of his neck, disappearing beneath the collar of his oversized hoodie while strands of dark hair curled softly around the edges of the ink.
Your eyes stayed there longer than they should have.
Ji-yong continued adjusting music on the screen ahead, humming absentmindedly beneath his breath while typing something into the computer. Completely unaware. Or maybe not completely. Because the longer your silence stretched, the quieter he became too.
Until finallyâbefore you could even think yourself out of itâyour hand lifted. Slowly. Carefully. Your fingertips brushed the back of his neck.
Ji-yong stilled instantly. Like every nerve in his body had suddenly focused entirely on that single point of contact.
You traced the edge of one wing softly with your fingertips, following the ink slowly beneath warm skin.
The reaction was immediate. Ji-yong leaned back into your touch slightly before he could stop himself. Small movement. Tiny. But devastating.
Your breath caught softly.
His head dipped forward just a little, exposing more of his neck silently, unconsciously yielding to your hand while the studio filled only with low music and the sound of both your breathing.
The reaction startled you more than it should have. Not because he leaned into your touch. Because he trusted it.
Ji-yong had always been careful with you, almost painfully so sometimes, like every touch had to pass through permission first before reaching your skin. Even now, after the beach and the hand holding and the quiet kisses, there was still restraint in him. A constant awareness. A fear of pushing too far.
But thisâthis was instinct. His body responding before his brain could stop it.
You traced the edge of one wing again slowly, your fingertip sliding upward toward his hairline, and Ji-yong exhaled softly through his nose. The sound barely reached you over the music.
The studio suddenly felt too warm.
Your fingers drifted higher almost absentmindedly, nails scratching lightly against his scalp beneath dark strands of hair. Ji-yongâs eyes fluttered shut instantly.
You stared at him for a second too long.
At the relaxed line of his mouth. The exposed stretch of his throat. The way his shoulders had loosened beneath your touch without even realizing.
âBut arenât youâŠâ Ji-yong started quietly before stopping himself.
You waited. He opened his eyes again slowly, looking somewhere ahead instead of directly at you.
âI meanâŠâ A breathy half-laugh escaped him, embarrassed suddenly. âDoesnât this make you uncomfortable?â
âWhat? You being into this?â
The sentence hung awkwardly in the dim room. Ji-yong rubbed once at the side of his face like he immediately regretted saying it aloud.
âYes, Y/N,â he muttered dryly. âThat.â
Something softened painfully inside your chest then. Because he sounded genuinely uncertain. Like he was still trying to understand where your fear began and ended.
The silence stretched between you afterward, heavy and warm and full of things neither of you knew how to explain properly yet.
Your hand moved against the nape of his neck again slowly, fingertips tracing the dark span of wings upward while you thought.
The tattoo really was beautiful up close.
You had been thinking about it ever since the beach. About the glimpse of black ink disappearing beneath wet hair. About the way it moved when he laughed. About the shape of it beneath your fingertips now.
It looked even better than your imagination had allowed.
Ji-yong tilted his head downward slightly again when your nails scratched softly against his scalp, a silent yielding motion that made warmth rush low through your stomach.
You leaned closer before fully thinking about it.
Close enough now to smell him.
Soap. Coffee. Ocean still lingering faintly somehow.
Your lips hovered just beside the tattoo for one suspended second.
Then finallyâyou kissed it.
Jiyongâs breath hitched instantly, the sharp intake of air sounding almost like a gasp. The sound shot straight through you. And suddenlyâyou understood exactly why people became addicted to power.
âIt doesn't make me uncomfortable,â you murmured, your voice vibrating directly against his skin. A visible shiver rippled through him, and watching the reaction caused something warm to settle deep in your chest. Something dangerous. Something hungry.
âThen⊠what does?â His question was barely a whisper, a quiet, fragile plea hanging in the space between you.
In that beat, the realization struck you of just how difficult you were to understand, how hard it was for anyone to get you to open up. For once, you decided you had simply had enough of your own bullshit.
Standing up, you walked over until you were looming directly in front of him. Jiyong's eyes widened, his throat working as he swallowed visibly. What a beautiful throat, you thought.
His knuckles turned white as his hands gripped the armrests of the chair. Hard.
âI don't like feeling small,â you confessed at last, pressing your lips together in a firm line before pushing forward. âI⊠I like sex. I love sex. And you areâŠâ
With a soft sigh, you finally crossed the distance and settled directly onto his lap.
His hands instantly found your hips, grounding you for a split second before they began to drift awayâas if your skin were burning metal he had no right to touch. You hated the retreat. Perhaps that was why your own hands came down to catch his, firmly guiding them back to where they belonged.
He let out a ragged breath, the corner of his mouth tucking into a small, unexpected smirk. You liked that expression on him; it was entirely different from any smile he had given you up until now.
âIâm what?â he prompted.
âHot. Really hot. Your tattoos, too.â
A breathless laugh escaped him. âAll this because of my tattoos?â
âYeah. All this because of them.â
Your arms looped around his neck, your fingers tracing the dark lines of ink almost by memory now. He sighed, his eyelids fluttering shut for a brief moment.
âI have this⊠weird thoughtââ
âTell me.â He didn't hesitate, his eyes snapping open to lock fiercely with yours.
You paused, your tongue darting out to wet your lips. His gaze immediately dropped, tracking the movement. âI thought⊠that I wanted to touch them all. Kiss them.â
A choked sound tore from the back of Jiyongâs throat, low and sharp, almost like a whimper. A slow smirk pulled at your lips.
âYouâd let me do it?â
âPlease do it,â he breathed, the words raw. âDo whatever you want with me, Y/N.â
The sheer weight of his surrender made you freeze for a fraction of a second. Jiyong swallowed hard.
âDid it sound too desperate?â
âItâs okay. I⊠can I?â
âIâm going to get hard then,â he rushed out, his voice thick. âItâs important to me that you know, andââ
You cut him off, leaning down to capture his lips and steal the rest of his words away.
He groaned into the kiss, the sound vibrating deep in his chest as his hands tightened on your hips, fingers digging in just enough to anchor you. It was electrifyingâa sudden, sharp jolt that rushed straight down your spine. You fucking loved it.
And the best part? The sheer, liberating lack of fear.
This wasnât like the last time the two of you had kissed. No, everything about this was different. You were on top. You held the reins. You didnât feel cornered or caged by his gravity. And Eun-woo? Eun-woo didnât even cross your mind. The memory of him was entirely eclipsed by the man beneath you.
When you finally separated for air, your hand drifted up to his jaw, your fingers cupping his chin. You tilted his head softly to the side, exposing the pale expanse of his skin and the dark, intricate wings of the tattoo. Your free hand followed, tracing the black lines with a slow, deliberate stroke.
âYou really like that one, huh?â he murmured, his voice rough.
âYou didnât tell me about this one at the beach.â
âYou wanna know what the angel means?â A smile touched his lips firstâsmall, a little crooked, and laced with a hint of self-deprecation, like he already half-regretted being so transparent. âItâs funny because people see angels and immediately think purity. Goodness. Something untouched. But thatâs never what interested me. The thing about angels is⊠they fall.â
You let out a soft hum, leaning down slowly to press a lingering kiss against the side of his neck, right over the inked feathers. Jiyong let out a ragged sigh, his eyelids fluttering shut as he surrendered to the touch.
âPeople look at me and they see this character first,â he continued, the words spilling out quietly into the space between you. âG-Dragon. But underneath all that, thereâs still Ji-yong somewhere. Tired. Sometimes lonely in ways that donât make sense when millions of people know your name.â
He paused, his breath hitching slightly as your fingers brushed his hairline.
âAnd the angel⊠maybe thatâs him. Or maybe itâs the version of me I keep losing.â A quiet, breathless laugh escaped him, and you opened your eyes to look at him. âThe tattoo reminds me that softness and destruction can exist in the same person. That beauty can come from damage, too. Angels arenât beautiful because theyâre perfect. Theyâre beautiful because they survive the fall.â
He shifted slightly, a sudden flash of his usual charm breaking through the heavy atmosphere as he tugged lightly at the cuff of his sleeve. âAlso⊠it just looks cool as hell.â
A small, breathy laugh escaped you at the sudden shift.
âWell, I like it a lot,â you said softly, your gaze softening as you looked down at him. âAnd⊠Iâm sorry. Because I canât entirely understand what you mean when it comes to⊠well, the G-Dragon feeling. But if it matters somehow⊠I donât know who he is.â
Jiyongâs breath hitched, his entire body going entirely still beneath you.
You kept going, your voice steady and laced with an honesty that felt terrifying but necessary. âI know Kwon Ji-yong. Or at least, Iâm getting to know him.â
His dark eyes locked onto yours, intense and unblinking, searching your face for any sign of hesitation. âI know Y/N,â he countered softly, his hands sliding just an inch higher on your waist. âOr at least, Iâm getting to know her, too.â
âIsnât she scary?â you asked, a tentative, self-deprecating edge to your voice.
âAnd inconvenient. She fucks up a lot.â
âNot as much as she thinks,â Jiyong replied, his thumb sweeping a comforting circle against your hip.
A heavy, charged silence settled between you, the vulnerability of the moment wrapping around the room like a tight coil. You looked down at his mouth, watching the way his lips parted slightly, waiting. The vulnerability was intoxicating, but the heat returning to his gaze was downright dangerous.
âYouâre too good at this,â you whispered, leaning down just enough that your breath brushed his lips. âSaying exactly whatâs going to ruin me.â
âIâm just telling the truth,â he murmured, his hands tightening on your hips again, this time lifting you just an inch to shift your weight more firmly against him. The friction made you gasp, and the small, wicked smirk returned to his face. âBesides⊠I think you like the ruin.â
âShow me,â he breathed, his voice dropping into a dark, demanding register that made your blood run hot. His hands guided you, pressing you down into the undeniable proof of his earlier warning. âShow me exactly how much you like it.â
You didnât answer with words. Instead, you leaned down and crashed your lips against his, a fierce, bruising make-out session that left both of you breathless. The studio seemed to shrink until there was nothing but the heat of his mouth, the desperation in his hands, and the intoxicating rhythm of your bodies moving together.
Jiyong groaned, his hands moving from your hips to the hem of his own oversized hoodie. He needed it off. You paused just long enough to let him pull the thick fabric over his head and toss it blindly into the shadows of the studio, leaving him in a loose, low-cut tank top.
Your hands immediately found his chest, your fingers sliding beneath the collar of his shirt. With a firm, deliberate tug, you pushed the fabric down and over his shoulder, exposing the pale expanse of his skin. There, etched sharply near his shoulder, were the Roman numerals: VIII.I.VIII.
You leaned down, your hair brushing against his collarbone as you pressed a slow, deliberate kiss directly over the ink.
Jiyongâs head snapped back against the chair, a ragged gasp tearing from his throat. A sharp shiver racked his frame as your lips lingered on his skin, your tongue darting out to taste him.
âYou werenât lyingâŠâ he choked out, his eyes squeezed shut, his knuckles turning white where he gripped the armrests. âYou really do want to kiss them.â
You pulled back just enough to look at him, your smirk returning, dark and confident. âWhy would I lie?â
Without waiting for an answer, your hands slid down his bare shoulders, smoothing down the lean muscle of his arms until you captured his right hand.Â
Your eyes dropped to the small, simple smiley face etched into the skin near his thumb. It was an iconic piece of him, a symbol the world knew well, but right now, it was just a target for your lips. You brought his hand up and pressed a soft, lingering kiss directly over the tiny smile.
Jiyongâs breath hitched, his fingers twitching against yours.
Before he could recover, you turned his arm over, exposing the bold script running along the inner forearm: Vita Dolce*ç. Sweet life. You traced the Italian lettering with the tip of your finger, feeling the rapid, electric pulse drumming beneath his skin, before leaning down to press a trail of slow, wet kisses from the crook of his elbow all the way down to his wrist.
A low, fractured groan spilled from his lips, his hips instinctively rolling upward against yours, seeking the friction, demanding the heat.
But you kept him waiting, deliberately maintaining your slow, agonizing pace as you reached for his left arm. Your gaze locked onto the corresponding script on his other forearm:Moderato. A musical term, a reminder to live at a moderate paceâa concept that felt completely foreign to the roaring fire consuming the studio right now.
âModerato,â you murmured against his skin, just before your lips pressed into the ink. âNot tonight.â
âY/N⊠please,â he choked out.
He was absolutely undone. Kwon Ji-yong, a man used to being chased, idolized, and perceived from a distance, had completely unraveled under the weight of your touch.Â
His head was thrown back, his mouth completely open as he gasped for air, his chest heaving violently. He had never been worshipped like thisâso deeply, so wholly, stripped of the G-Dragon armor until he was just a man entirely at your mercy.
And fuck, you were enjoying every single second of it. The power, the raw vulnerability of his surrender, the way his body trembled whenever your lips met his skinâit was intoxicating.
Your eyes dark with a dangerous, hungry satisfaction, you slid your hands higher up his inner arm, shifting your weight just enough to make him let out a sharp, breathless cry. Your fingers brushed over the intricate, heavier ink hidden thereâthe striking gun intertwined with religious artwork. The stark contrast of the weapon imagery mixed with holy symbolism felt so entirely him, a beautiful collision of danger and sacredness.
You leaned down, your lips brushing the cold danger of the inked gun before pressing a deep, reverent kiss into the religious artwork right beside it.
Jiyongâs entire body went rigid, a sound torn from the very back of his throatâhalfway between a sob and a plea. His hands came up to clutch at your waist, his knuckles white, his eyes snapping open to lock onto yours with a desperate, burning intensity.
He was trembling beneath you, the friction of your bodies driving him right to the edge, but suddenly, a flicker of hesitation crossed his dark eyes. The raw, demanding register of his voice softened, replaced by a sudden, protective caution. He held your hips firmly, stalling the rhythmic motion just as it was reaching a fever pitch.
âIâm sorry,â he breathed, his chest heaving as he stared up at you.
You blinked, momentarily dazed by the sudden pause, your heart hammering against your ribs. âSorry?â
âI don't want to mess up,â Jiyong confessed, his voice thick with a mix of heavy arousal and genuine anxiety. He looked so incredibly vulnerable, stripped of all his armor, entirely focused on reading your face for any sign of panic.
A soft, reassured warmth bloomed in your chest. He didn't know about Eun-woo. He didn't know about the phantom weight that usually trapped you. All he knew was that you had pulled away last time, and he was terrified of repeating whatever mistake he thought he'd made.
You leaned down, brushing your lips against his jaw, grounding him. âStop worrying, Ji-yong.â
âBut I really want this,â he whispered, a fierce, honest admission that slipped past his lips before he could stop it. His fingers dug slightly into your skin, anchoring you to his lap. âI want you, Y/N. And I donât want to lose control and make you uncomfortable.â
Hearing those words from himâthe absolute opposite of the careless cruelty you had survived in the pastâfinally shattered the very last of your walls.
âYou wonât,â you murmured against his mouth, a promise and a reassurance all in one. âYou couldnât.â
Your words completely dissolved the last of his hesitation. The tension bled out of his frame, replaced by a sudden, consuming heat that seemed to set the very air in the studio on fire.
He didn't wait. His hands tightened on your hips, no longer holding you back, but pulling you flush against him as his mouth crashed onto yours.Â
The kiss was entirely different nowâdeep, possessive, and thick with a desperation that had been building for months.
You met him beat for beat, moving your hips in a slow, torturous grind that had both of you losing your minds.Â
The friction was a white-hot spark, sending a jolt straight down your spine. Every press of your bodies together was an answer to his fears, a silent assurance that you were exactly where you wanted to be.
Lost in the sheer intensity of him, your hand traveled up from his chest, sliding past his jaw to tangle firmly in the hair at the nape of his neck. Your fingers fisted in the strands, and with a sudden surge of possessive hunger, you yanked back just enough to tilt his head up, forcing him to meet your gaze while you kept grinding against him.
A sharp, ragged gasp tore from Jiyongâs throat. His eyes flew open, completely blown out and dark with a raw, primal shock.
The rough, controlling grip on his hair sent a sudden, unexpected jolt straight through him. It was a completely new sensationâto be the one dominated, to have his head held back, to be entirely at the mercy of someone elseâs touch.Â
A deep, heavy flush crept up his neck, his chest heaving violently as a low, undone whimper escaped his lips. He was weirdly, intensely turned on by it, and the sheer force of how much he liked it completely surprised him.
"Y/N..." he choked out, his voice a fractured whisper, his hips hitching upward in a desperate, uncoordinated reaction to the pull on his hair.
A wicked smirk pulled at your lips against his mouth. Seeing him like thisâthis global icon, entirely helpless and unraveled under your handsâwas the most intoxicating thing you had ever experienced. You tightened your grip slightly, tracing his bottom lip with your tongue before whispering against his mouth.
"Do you like that, Ji-yong?"
He could barely form a thought, let alone a sentence. His hands slid from your hips down to your thighs, his fingers digging into your skin to hold you in place as he buried his face into the crook of your neck, his breath hot and frantic.
"Yes," he groaned, the confession torn from him, raw and completely unguarded. "God, yes."
The heat in the studio was entirely suffocating now, thick with the sound of swallowed gasps and the steady, rhythmic friction of your bodies.Â
You didn't let go of his hair, using that possessive grip to guide his head exactly where you wanted it as you leaned down to feast on his skin again.
You pressed wet, bruising kisses along the sharp line of his jaw, moving down to the hollow beneath his ear where his pulse was practically leaping out of his skin.Â
Every time you shifted your weight, grinding down against his lap, a fractured whimper tore from the back of Jiyongâs throat. He was entirely at your mercy, his hands trembling where they gripped your thighs, trying to ground himself as you systematically dismantled his composure.
But it wasnât just him completely losing his mind.
As you leaned down further, your lips mapping the dark ink on his collarbone once more, a sharp gasp escaped your own throat. A wave of pure, unadulterated pleasure crashed over you, so intense it made your vision blur.
For the first time in a long time, the heavy, suffocating coil of anxiety in your chest completely unraveled.Â
There was no ghost of your past hovering over the chair, no fear of being trapped, no hyper-vigilance telling you to run.Â
For the first time in what felt like centuries, this was pure release. It was raw, mutual, and so incredibly satisfying that tears of sheer relief nearly pricked the corners of your eyes.Â
You had completely forgotten how good sex, or anything close to it, could feelâhow liberating it was to just want and to be allowed to take.
âJi-yongâŠâ you whimpered against his skin, the sound entirely undone.
Hearing your vulnerability seemed to ignite something primal in him. He let out a low, dark growl, his hands suddenly sliding up from your thighs to lock tightly around your waist. He didn't try to take over, but he helped you, his hips arching upward to meet your next downward grind with a fierce, heavy pressure that made your head snap back.
A loud, breathless cry slipped past your lips, echoing off the soundproofed walls of the studio.
âThatâs it,â Jiyong breathed, his voice thick, rough, and entirely ruined. He opened his eyes, staring up at you through heavy, dark lashes, his gaze burning with a fierce intensity. âGive it to me, Y/N. Donât hold back.â
You let out a shaky breath, a wild, beautiful thrill rushing through your veins.Â
Your hands left his hair, your palms flattening against his chest to feel the frantic, booming hammer of his heart as you began to move against him with a faster, hungrier urgency. You buried your face in his neck, kissing the dark wings of the angel tattoo again and again, your teeth lightly grazing his skin.
The heat between you was mounting, a fever pitch of breathless sighs and heavy, rhythmic motion that felt impossible to break. His hands were tight on your waist, pulling you closer, desperate to eliminate even the slightest microscopic distance left between your bodies.
And then, his elbow clipped the edge of the mixing console.
A loud burst of music exploded through the studio so suddenly that both of you practically jumped out of your skin.
You let out a startled noise, a sharp yelp of surprise, while Ji-yong swore loudly beneath you, one of his hands flying blindly toward the console to fumble with the controls.
The heavy studio speakers blasted a wall of distorted bass and unfinished synth tracks through the room for approximately two catastrophic seconds, the volume rattling the very glass of the recording booth, before the music finally cut off again.
Silence crashed down afterward.
Heavy breathing. Wide eyes. The echo of the bass still vibrating in your bones.
For a beat, neither of you moved. You just stared at each other, hearts hammering against your ribs, entirely frozen in the aftermath of the auditory assault. The heavy, dark shroud of intensity that had filled the room just a second ago was violently, unceremoniously torn away.
Thenâyou started laughing.
It wasn't polite laughter. It was real, breathless laughter, the kind that bubbled up from your chest and escaped before you could even think to stop it.Â
The sheer absurdity of the timing, the shock of the blast, and the look of utter horror on his face were too much to handle.
Ji-yong stared at you for one stunned, blinking second before groaning dramatically, letting his head fall back against the headrest of the chair as his hands slid down to his face to cover his eyes.
âOh my god,â he muttered, his voice muffled by his palms. âThat was not sexy at all.â
That only made you laugh harder, your shoulders shaking as you collapsed slightly against his chest, the tension completely draining out of your body.
Hearing your genuine amusement, his hands slid down just enough for his dark eyes to peek out at you. His mouth twitched despite himself, a reluctant, beautiful smile breaking across his face.
It was exactly what you both needed. The heavy, almost overwhelming gravity of the moment had been cracked wide open, grounding both of youâespecially youâback into the safety of reality.Â
The ghosts of the past couldn't survive in a room filled with this much light.
âHey,â he whispered instantly, breathless and careful again despite being completely ruined beneath you. âYou okay?â
âIâm okay,â you whispered quickly, almost confused by it yourself. âI justâŠâ
Your throat tightened, the words catching for a second before slipping out into the quiet space between you. âI wasnât scared.â
Ji-yong froze completely beneath you.Â
The words clearly landed heavier than you intended, because something fragile crossed his face so suddenly it almost hurt to witness.Â
He didn't know the details, didn't know the name of the shadow you had been running from, but he knew what it meant to carry a weight that made you want to hide.
Slowly, carefully, one of his hands came up toward your face, his palm resting against your cheek like he was handling something precious.
âYou donât have to explain,â he murmured, his thumb sweeping a gentle, soothing circle against your skin.
But you wanted to. Maybe for the first time in your life.
You swallowed hard, your fingers still tangled loosely in the soft strands at the back of his hair. âNo, IâŠâ Your voice faltered, a sudden wave of emotion making it thick. âYou donât understand how big that is for me.â
Ji-yong stared up at you for a long moment, his dark eyes searching yours, absorbing the raw honesty of the admission before he exhaled shakily.
âI think,â he said quietly, his voice laced with a deep, intuitive understanding, âmaybe I do a little.â
And fuck. That nearly broke you entirely.
The studio suddenly felt too intimate now, too open, too terrifyingly honest after everything you had just handed each other. The physical heat was still humming beneath your skin, but this emotional nakedness was a completely different kind of vulnerability.
Ji-yong seemed to sense the overwhelming shift.Â
Shifting his grip on your face, he let his forehead fall gently against yours, grounding you in the steady reality of his touch. Neither of you kissed. Neither of you moved.Â
You just stayed there, wrapped up in each other, breathing the same air while the low hum of the studio equipment droned somewhere forgotten in the background.
Then quietlyâalmost shy despite the absolute madness of what you had just been doingâJi-yong mumbled against your skin: âSoâŠâ
You huffed a watery laugh, the lump in your throat dissolving. âSo?â
ââŠDoes this mean youâre obsessed with me now because of my tattoos?â
You pulled back just an inch to stare at him for one incredulous second before laughing properly this time. Real, unbridled laughter that echoed softly off the soundproofed walls.
Ji-yong smiled immediately at the sound, a heavy wave of relief visibly washing over his features to hear the lightness return to your voice.
âThere he is,â you murmured, your smile mirroring his.
He gasped dramatically, his chest expanding beneath you as his hands came back to rest loosely on your hips. âAfter all that worshipping, you still bully me?â
âCruel,â he sighed. But he was smiling when he said it, his eyes shining with a warmth that told you he wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world.
You looked down, your eyes accidentally catching the prominent bulge in his pants, and immediately snapped your gaze back up to his face.
âIâm sorry for that,â you said, your cheeks flushing a sheepish, sudden pink.
Ji-yong just let out a soft, effortless laugh, brushing it off with a gentle squeeze of his hands on your hips. âDonât worry about it. Completely natural consequence of what you were just doing to me.â
You groaned immediately, covering your face with one hand. âOh my god.â
âWhat?â he asked innocently, though the smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth ruined the act entirely.
âYouâre impossible.â
âAnd yet you keep climbing on top of me.â
Your eyes narrowed while he laughed quietly again, the sound warm and wrecked in a way that still made your stomach flip embarrassingly hard.
But slowlyâthankfullyâthe atmosphere began shifting. Not colder. Just calmer.
The sharp edge of the tension softened into something sleepy and warm, both of you still catching your breath while the low music hummed around the studio again.
You looked toward the computer setup then. ââŠMaybe that was a sign for you to finish the song.â
Ji-yong followed your gaze before sighing dramatically. âMaybe.â
You slid carefully off his lap after that, and immediately felt his hands hesitate against your waist before letting go.
The loss of warmth felt strangely noticeable. Dangerous thought.
You ignored it while straightening your clothes slightly, trying very hard not to think about the fact that ten minutes ago you had practically been losing your mind against him in the middle of a recording studio.
Ji-yong watched you the entire time. Softly. Like he still couldnât fully believe any of that had actually happened.
You took one step away before fingers caught your hand gently. You looked back.
Ji-yong was still sitting in the chair, one hand loosely wrapped around yours while looking up at you with an expression so open it almost hurt.
âCan you still stay?â he asked quietly. Then quickly, âIf youâre comfortable, of course.â
And somehow it affected you more now than it had before. Because after everything that had just happened, he still wasnât assuming anything. You nodded slowly.
âYeah,â you answered softly. âYeah, Iâd like that.â
The smile that spread across his face afterward was small but devastatingly genuine. Cute. Annoyingly cute.
You cleared your throat before your brain could spiral too much over that realization. âIs there anywhere I can get food or water?â
Ji-yong perked up immediately. âYeah, vending machines outside in the corridor.â
âCool. Iâll grab something and come back, yeah?â
He nodded quickly before pausing. Thenâ ââŠDonât get kidnapped.â
You stared at him. âIn the YG building?â
âYou are deeply unserious.â
âAnd youâre leaving me vulnerable and abandoned.â
âYouâll survive five minutes.â
âThatâs optimistic.â
You rolled your eyes, unable to stop smiling as you headed toward the studio door.
Behind you, Ji-yong called out suddenlyâ âWait.â
He pointed awkwardly toward your face.
âYour lipstick is a bit smudged.â
Your hand flew up instantly. âWhat?!â
Ji-yong burst into laughter immediately.
âYou shouldâve seen your face.â
âYouâre lucky Iâm being nice to you tonight.â
âOh?â he asked, leaning back in the chair again with a smug little grin. âTonight specifically?â
You flipped him off on your way out. His laughter followed you all the way into the hallway.
----------------------------------
The hallway outside the studio was quiet in that strange late-night way buildings became after most people had already gone home. The bright white lights overhead buzzed softly, reflecting against polished floors while distant music leaked faintly through closed doors somewhere further down the corridor.
You found the vending machines almost immediately.
Three of them shoved against the wall beside a sitting area no one was using at this hour.
One for drinks. One for snacks. One suspiciously dedicated entirely to instant ramen.
You stared at the last one for a second.
After a moment of deliberation that absolutely did not require that much thought, you grabbed a bottle of water and a bag of chips, the machine loudly dropping them with enough force to nearly give you a heart attack.
You crouched to pick them up before sitting down on the little couch nearby.
And thenâbecause apparently you had lost all capacity for self-preservation tonightâyou opened your phone.
Your chat with Jiwoon sat near the top immediately. You hesitated only a second before typing.
The response came almost offensively fast.
Three dots appeared instantly.
okay phew cause im in bed and i didnt want to go running somewhere, now spill
You stared at the screen for a moment longer than necessary. How exactly were you even supposed to explain this? Your fingers hovered uncertainly before finally typing again.
you flushed violently despite being entirely alone in the hallway.
You rubbed at your face with one hand.
The typing bubble appeared so fast it was honestly terrifying.
YOU CANNOT DROP âA BIT MOREâ CASUALLY AND EXPECT ME NOT TO ASCEND.
nothing crazy happened okay!!
You stared at the message.
We didnt have sex or anything but⊠he touched me and i didnt panic
The typing bubble disappeared. Appeared again. Disappeared. When her response finally came, it was slower. Softer.
Your throat tightened unexpectedly. You looked down at the water bottle in your hands. The bright vending machine lights suddenly felt too harsh.
You typed before you could overthink it.
the only reason we stopped is because he accidentally pressed something and the computer started screaming at us
A full ten seconds passed before Jiwoon answered.
he didnt even notice it did he
âDonât say it like that,â you muttered aloud instantly while typing the exact same thing back.
Jiwoon:
so its official then
Jiwoon:
you two are dating
Your fingers froze over the keyboard. The hallway suddenly felt very quiet. Very still.
Becauseâwere you?
Your stomach flipped violently at the thought. Not unpleasantly.Which was maybe the most terrifying part.Â
Jiwoon:
WDYM YOU DONT KNOW?!
You huffed out a laugh despite yourself.
we never said anything about that
Jiwoon:
he takes you on dates
Jiwoon:
he holds your hand
Jiwoon:
you literally made out with him in his music studio apparently???
your face burned hot enough to combust.
Jiwoon:
HOW ELSE AM I SUPPOSED TO SAY IT
Jiwoon:
âoh yes, my dear friend professionally kissed the heel out of gdragons mouth tonightâ
You buried your face briefly into your hands.
Your thumbs hovered uncertainly again before typing slower this time.
i think i genuinely like him
The message sat there for only a second before Jiwoon replied:
yeahi know
You should talk with him then.
You immediately grimaced at the screen.
Jiwoon:
donât act shy NOW
You slumped deeper into the little couch dramatically.
but jiwoooon what am i supposed to say???
Jiwoon:idk maybe âhello ji-yong i have emotionally attached myself to you and your tattoosâ
You let out a horrified snort loud enough to echo slightly through the empty hallway.
you are the worst person alive
Jiwoon:
and yet iâm correct
Your fingers hovered uncertainly again. because that was the problem, wasnât it? Not the kissing. Not the touching. Not even the terrifying vulnerability of letting someone that close again.
The fact that this was becoming real enough to require words.
And words were dangerous.
Words made things concrete.
Your stomach twisted anxiously.
what if he doesnt want that though
The answer came almost instantly.
Y/N.That man looks at you like you invented happiness.
You stared at the screen silently.
Heat crept slowly up your neck.
Jiwoon:
seriouslyhe is SO careful with everything that you have told me
Jiwoon:
do you know how insane that is
Your chest tightened softly.
BecauseâŠyeah. You did know. Especially now. Especially after tonight.
After the way he kept checking your expression. After the way he stopped himself. After the way he looked more worried about frightening you than about his own frustration.
You dropped your head back against the couch cushion with a groan.
Jiwoon:
this is karma for making fun of me in highschool
i was right to make fun of you
Jiwoon:
YOU ARE LITERALLY IN LOVE RIGHT NOW
Your eyes widened violently.
Jiwoon:
did i say that out loud
You stared at the message like it had personally attacked you.
Because no. No. That was ridiculous. Right?
Sure, you liked him. A lot.
Sure, your chest did weird things every time he smiled softly at you. Sure, you kept thinking about his stupid laugh and his stupid tattoos and the way he said please like it actually meant something. Sure, silence didnât feel lonely around him anymore.
ButâYour phone buzzed again.
âShut up,â you muttered weakly to yourself.
A soft laugh suddenly sounded from nearby.
You nearly jumped out of your skin. Your head snapped up instantly.
Ji-yong stood a few feet away holding two instant ramen cups and looking deeply entertained.
âOh my god,â you hissed. âHow long have you been there?â
He shrugged innocently. âLong enough to know Jiwoon apparently hates me.â
Your soul briefly left your body. âYou were reading my messages?!â
âNo!â he defended immediately. âI just heard you whisper-shouting âshut upâ at your phone and got curious.â
You narrowed your eyes suspiciously.
Ji-yong lifted the ramen cups slightly like a peace offering. âI brought food.â
ââŠYouâre forgiven.â
Ji-yong sat down beside you with a quiet sigh, handing you one of the ramen cups carefully before opening his own. The smell instantly filled the hallway. Cheap processed noodles. Honestly heavenly.
You murmured a soft thanks while peeling the lid back slightly.
Ji-yong watched you for a second before nudging your shoulder lightly with his.
âWas I right though?â
âYou were talking about me?â
You scoffed immediately, blowing on the noodles to avoid looking at him directly.
The disappointment on his face was immediate and deeply dramatic. His shoulders slumped. His mouth pulled into an actual pout.
Then, very seriously, he added: âI was talking about you.â
Your brows lifted despite yourself. âWith who?â
Ji-yong stirred his ramen thoughtfully. âWith myself.â
You stared at him. ââŠThatâs somehow more concerning.â
âI had a lot to say.â
He grinned lazily into the steam rising from the cup before taking a bite. The sight weirdly softened something in your chest again. Ji-yong like this still felt surreal sometimes.A tired man in oversized clothes eating vending machine ramen at nearly midnight while sitting beside you on a hallway couch.
And somehow that version always affected you the most.
âWhat exactly were you saying to yourself?â you asked eventually.
Ji-yong hummed dramatically like he needed to think very hard about it. âMostly that youâre confusing.â
You snorted. âThatâs fair.â
âThatâs less fair.â
Your entire body stalled for half a second.
Ji-yong kept eating like he hadnât just casually dropped that into the conversation.
You stared at him suspiciously. ââŠYou canât just say things like that randomly.â
âWatch me.â He pointed his chopsticks toward you lazily. âYouâre pretty.â
You rolled your eyes instantly to hide the sudden warmth crawling up your neck.
Ji-yong looked deeply pleased by the reaction. âYou get embarrassed so easily,â he mumbled.
âYou flirt like a divorced dad.â
He gasped loudly. âCruel.â
A comfortable silence settled afterward. Not awkward. Just warm. The kind of silence that no longer demanded filling every second.
You both ate slowly while distant music echoed faintly through the building around you.
At some point, Ji-yong leaned his head back against the couch cushion and sighed softly.
âYou still need to finish your song.â
âI know,â he groaned weakly. âBut unfortunately Iâm currently experiencing something called being in love with you.â
You choked violently on ramen.
Ji-yongâs eyes widened instantly.
âI DIDNâT MEAN TO SAY THAT OUT LOUD.â
You coughed harder while he looked seconds away from throwing himself through the nearest window.
âForget I said that,â he rushed out immediately, horrified. âActually noâ donât forget it. Wait. Fuck. I meanââ
You started laughing before you could stop yourself. Real laughing. The kind that bent you forward slightly while Ji-yong stared at you in complete panic.
âThis isnât funny,â he whispered desperately.
âIâm having the worst moment of my life.â
âYou are absolutely not.â
âYou donât know my struggles.â
You wiped at your eyes while laughing softly again. And somewhere in the middle of Ji-yongâs dramatic spiralingâyou realized something terrifying. Your first instinct hadnât been fear. It had been happiness.
Ji-yong groaned, both hands covering his face completely now like he could physically hide inside his embarrassment. âThis is catastrophic.â
You snorted softly beside him, nudging his knee lightly with yours. âI didnât mind it.â
His hands dropped immediately. âWhat?â
You suddenly became very interested in your ramen. âThe thing you said.â
Ji-yong stared at you so intensely you could practically feel it burning into the side of your face.
âYou saying youâre in love with me,â you clarified quietly. âIf itâs true⊠Iââ
Damn him for asking that so softly. You swallowed hard. Because suddenly every word felt dangerous again. Not in the old way. Not fear. Just vulnerability.
Ji-yong must have noticed the hesitation because his expression softened almost painfully fast. âNo pressure,â he said immediately. âSeriously. You donât have to answer anything.â
You looked at him then. Really looked at him. At the messy hair falling into his eyes. At the ramen cup forgotten in his lap. At the nervousness he was trying so hard to hide behind humor.
You liked him so much it was becoming unbearable.
âI thinkâŠâ you started slowly, voice quieter now. âI think I would mind it if it wasnât true.â
Ji-yong went completely still. The hallway suddenly felt too small. Too warm. His lips parted slightly like he wanted to say something, but nothing came out at first. You could literally see the moment his brain stopped functioning.
ââŠOh,â he breathed eventually.
You huffed nervously, looking back down at your noodles. âThat sounded less embarrassing in my head.â
âNo,â he said immediately. âNo, it soundedââ
He stopped himself abruptly, pressing his lips together.
You blinked at him. âWhat?â
Ji-yong looked genuinely overwhelmed now, eyes wide and dark and impossibly soft.
âYouâre going to kill me one day.â
Your stomach flipped violently. âThatâs dramatic.â
âIâm a dramatic person.â
He stared at you another second longer before suddenly laughing quietly to himself, shaking his head a little.
âWhat?â you asked suspiciously.
âI was trying so hard to be normal around you.â
You barked out a laugh instantly. âNormal?â
âJi-yong, you showed up to a supermarket in sunglasses and a hoodie to buy oat milk.â
âThat was mysterious.â
âYou still liked me.â
Annoyingly enoughâhe sounded very pleased with himself about that. You rolled your eyes, but your smile betrayed you immediately. Ji-yong noticed. His expression softened all over again, quieter this time. More certain. Then gentlyâcarefullyâ he reached over and hooked one finger into the sleeve of your hoodie.
Not your hand. Not your waist. Just enough contact to say: still here.
âYou know,â he murmured, voice low enough that it almost disappeared beneath the distant hum of the building, âI think this is the first time Iâve ever confessed to someone while eating vending machine ramen.â
You snorted. âRomantic.â
âShut up. Iâm trying my best.â
âYou donât need to try.â
The words slipped out quietly. Naturally. And yet the moment they landed between both of you, the entire atmosphere shifted again.
Ji-yong went completely still.
You watched his throat bob as he swallowed hard, his teeth catching his bottom lip immediately afterward like he was physically trying to stop himself from smiling.
It didnât work. Not even a little.
The smile spread slowly anyway, helpless and bright and so devastatingly genuine that your chest tightened painfully at the sight of it.
âWhat?â you asked softly despite already knowing.
Ji-yong shook his head once, looking almost dazed. âYou are very good at that.â
âAt making my chest explode.â
Your breath caught embarrassingly fast.
He said things so sincerely sometimes it felt unfair.
You looked down at your hands in your lap, suddenly shy in a way you hadnât felt since you were a teenager.
Beside you, Ji-yong shifted closer unconsciously. Not enough to invade your space. Just enough warmth for his shoulder to brush yours lightly.
âI like you, Y/N,â he admitted then.
No teasing this time. No dramatics. No flirtatious grin hiding behind the words.
Simple. Open. Terrifyingly real.
You could hear the nervousness underneath it now that he wasnât trying to mask it anymore. Like he genuinely cared about the answer. And maybe that was the thing undoing you the most lately. Not the attraction. Not the attention. Not even the tenderness. It was the fact that Ji-yong cared. Without demanding anything back from you.
Your chest ached softly. âI thinkâŠâ you started quietly.
Ji-yong looked at you immediately. Completely focused. Entire world narrowing down to your next words. And for onceâyou didnât run from that attention. You let him look.
âI think I like you too.â
Silence. ThenâJi-yong abruptly dropped his head into his hands again with a strangled noise.
You blinked. ââŠAre you okay?â
âNo,â he groaned into his palms. âIâm having a medical emergency.â
A startled laugh escaped you instantly.
âThis is serious,â he continued dramatically. âMy heart stopped working.â
âYou are so embarrassing.â
âAnd yet you like me anyway.â
Unfortunatelyâthat was becoming very true. Ji-yong lifted his head again slowly, eyes warm and impossibly soft while looking at you. There was wonder there.Actual wonder. Like some part of him still couldnât believe this was real.
Then quietlyâalmost shy despite everythingâhe reached for your hand this time. Fully. Fingers sliding carefully between yours. You let him.
And the smile that appeared on his face afterward was so small and happy that it nearly ruined you completely.
His thumb moved softly against your hand where your fingers were still intertwined, absentminded little movements betraying how nervous he actually was beneath the smiles and dramatics.
The hallway around both of you had gone strangely quiet. Or maybe you had simply stopped noticing everything else.
Eventually, Ji-yong swallowed hard. Then glanced away. Then back at you. Then away again.
You narrowed your eyes immediately. âWhat.â
âItâs justâŠâ He laughed weakly under his breath, shoulders hunching slightly. âThis is not how I imagined this happening.â
Your stomach flipped. ââŠImagined what happening?â
Ji-yong stared down at your joined hands for a second like he was gathering courage directly from them. Then finallyâslowlyâhe looked back up at you.
âWould youâŠâ His voice caught slightly. He cleared his throat instantly. âWould you like to try then?â
His ears had gone pink now. Actually pink. It was ridiculously endearing.
âI meanââ he started again before stopping himself with a groan. âGod, I had a whole thing planned in my head and now it sounds stupid.â
Your lips twitched despite yourself.
Ji-yong took another breath.
âThis isnât how I was hoping to ask,â he admitted quietly. âBut since weâre already here and apparently confessing while eating ramen from a machineâŠâ
You laughed softly.
That seemed to calm him a little. Just enough. His grip on your hand tightened slightly. Then carefullyâgenuinely carefullyâ he asked: âWould you let me be your boyfriend?â
Your heart stopped. Actually stopped. Not because the question scared you. Because it didnât. And that realization hit harder than anything else.
The word should have felt heavy. Threatening. Suffocating. Insteadâsitting beside Ji-yong under fluorescent hallway lights with half-finished ramen in your lap and his fingers nervously tangled with yoursâit felt warm. Soft. Wanted.
Ji-yong must have mistaken your silence for uncertainty because he rushed to continue immediately.
âYou donât have to answer right now,â he said quickly. âSeriously. I know this isâ a lot. And labels are scary sometimes and I donât want you feeling trapped or pressured andââ
You stared at him for a long moment.
At the nervousness in his eyes. At the vulnerability he kept offering you over and over again without ever demanding yours back.
You were so unbelievably gone for him.
A small smile pulled at your lips before you could stop it.
ââŠYou are really bad at being chill.â
Ji-yong groaned immediately. âY/N, please, Iâm fighting for my life right now.â
Your laugh escaped softly. Thenâbefore fear could catch up to youâyou squeezed his hand back.
Ji-yong froze. Entirely. Like his brain genuinely short-circuited.
You rolled your eyes softly despite the warmth spreading through your chest.
âNo, I said yes for the plot.â
He stared at you another second longer before suddenly breaking into the brightest smile you had seen from him yet. Not charming. Not teasing. Just Ji-yong.
And somehow that expression alone nearly destroyed you more than all the kissing earlier.
âOh my god,â he whispered to himself, sounding stunned. âI have a girlfriend.â
You snorted immediately. âYou sound surprised.â
âI am surprised!â he defended. âDo you know how scary you are?â
âThatâs affectionate.â
âYou flirt terribly.â
âAnd yet,â he said smugly, lifting your joined hands slightly, âboyfriend.â
You hated how much that word affected you already.
Ji-yong noticed immediately. Of course he did. His smile softened into something quieter then. Something almost disbelieving. Then he leaned sideways slowlyâgiving you enough time to stop him if you wantedâ and rested his head carefully against your shoulder. Just close.
Your chest tightened painfully again. And after only a second of hesitationâyou let your head lean lightly against his too.
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A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed hehe